CNN has joined NBC in refusing to air an advertisement that marks the significance of the pro-life decision made by President Obama’s mother and asks what would have happened had he been the victim of abortion.
It is embedded here:
The ad, sponsored by the pro-life Catholic group Fidelis and its CatholicVote website, begins with an ultrasound image of a baby moving in his mother’s womb.
“This child’s future is a broken home,” it says.
“He will be abandoned by his father.”
“His single mother will struggle to raise him.”
“Despite the hardships, he will endure,” the ad states. “This child will become the first African American president.”
It features a photo of President Obama and concludes, “Life. Imagine the potential.”
Now CNN has refused to air the ad in a time slot linked to Obama’s coming State of the Union address, Fidelis said.
CNN, which did not respond to a WND request for comment, alleged the ad suggests a position in favor of a message without having permission of the persons involved, according to Fidelis.
“This is absurd,” said Fidelis spokesman Brian Burch. “Our ad does not suggest that
Barack Obama is pro-life. Instead, we make the obvious point that Obama’s
mother gave birth to a child that ultimately became the first African American
President. This is a fact, not an opinion.”
He pointed out that CNN used a different standard when it aired an ad from 2005 sponsored by the pro-abortion NARAL that suggested then-Judge John Roberts, now the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, supported violence against abortion clinics.
Fidelis noted online “fact” groups labeled the ad “false” for linking Roberts to the violence against abortion clinics.
“Several prominent pro-abortion supporters condemned the ad, including
President Clinton’s Solicitor General Walter Dellinger. The commercial,
which attributed views to John Roberts that were not his, was ultimately
pulled from the air not by CNN, but by NARAL,” Fidelis said.
At that time, CNN said it, “accepts advocacy advertising from responsible groups
from across the political spectrum who wish to express their views and their
opinions about issues of public importance, so the viewers can further
research claims made within the ads.”
Burch said, “CNN is willing to run ads insinuating that a federal judge supports violent criminal activity, but it won’t allow an ad celebrating the life of Barack
Obama. It’s a double standard from bizarro world.”
In an e-mail to CatholicVote.org, Kathy Christianson of CNN’s Commercial
Clearance Department announced the company was refusing the ad.
“CNN doesn’t accept advocacy ads that portray personal decisions in a manner
that suggests a position in favor of the advocacy message, without having
permission of the persons involved. CNN is not accepting this particular
advocacy ad because it deals with a highly personal and private matter and
does so without the consent of those involved.”
Nonsense, Burch said. “There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming
advertisement. We never mention the word abortion. We show an ultrasound of
a baby. And we congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first
African-American President. And we simply ask people to imagine the
potential of each human life.”
